ABSTRACT
This chapter gives a brief excerpt of statistical reporting from a published research article, and begins with guidelines for interpreting the statistics in the excerpt. The questions on the excerpts promote learning by requiring students to: interpret information in tables and figures, perform simple calculations to further their interpretations, critique data-reporting techniques, and evaluate procedures used to collect data. The questions in each exercise are divided into two parts: Factual Questions and Questions for Discussion. The factual questions require careful reading for details, while the discussion questions show that interpreting statistics is more than a mathematical exercise. The chi-square test can tell us if there is a statistically significant effect, but it does not give a ready way to understand the size of the effect. College freshmen responded to an anonymous questionnaire as part of an adjudication process for having been cited by campus authorities for violating rules concerning under-aged drinking or the use of illicit drugs.
